It outweighs everything else in existence, it governs the fate of the Universe and it cannot be explained by known physics.
Dark energy is the name physicists use for whatever substance, force or property of space is messing with the Universe, making its expansion accelerate. As yet, we know almost nothing about it, which has allowed theories about it to multiply uncontrolled. But astronomers are training an impressive array of instruments on the problem. Telescopes and radio detectors are tracing out more and more of the Universe in the hope of finding a fingerprint of dark energy. Space agencies are planning two missions to examine the stuff. The most violent of all stellar explosions could provide insight into its influence on the early Universe. And a new branch of astronomy may also have a part to play, as gravitational-wave detectors begin to listen for the effect of dark energy on the echoes of colliding black holes.
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